ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2026
Nuclear Technology
January 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
DOE announces NEPA exclusion for advanced reactors
The Department of Energy has announced that it is establishing a categorical exclusion for the application of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures to the authorization, siting, construction, operation, reauthorization, and decommissioning of advanced nuclear reactors.
According to the DOE, this significant change, which goes into effect today, “is based on the experience of DOE and other federal agencies, current technologies, regulatory requirements, and accepted industry practice.”
Edward A. Hoffman, Weston M. Stacey, Nolan E. Hertel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 31 | Number 1 | January 1997 | Pages 35-62
Technical Paper | Materials Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST97-A30779
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Results from the present physics, materials, and blanket research and development programs are combined with physics and engineering design constraints to characterize candidate tokamak demonstration plant (DEMO) designs. Blanket designs based on the principal structural materials, breeding materials, and coolants being developed for the DEMO were adapted from the literature. Neutron flux and activation calculations were performed, and several radioactive waste disposal indexes were evaluated for each design. Of the primary low-activation structural materials under development in the United States, it appears that vanadium and ferritic steel alloys and possibly silicon carbide could lead to DEMO designs that could satisfy realistic low-level waste (LLW) criteria, provided that impurities can be controlled within plausible limits. Allowable LLW concentrations are established for the limiting alloying and impurity elements. All breeding materials and neutron multipliers considered meet the ELW criterion.